Letters to the Editor
Letter to the Editor | Is Tacoma Narrows Airport (TIW) a good neighbor? (Part 2)
In this letter, I’m going describe the reasonable comments and requests others made to the County and the Tower and the responses they received. (Read part 1 here.)
Background: Tacoma Narrows Airport Advisory commission
The Tacoma Narrows Airport Advisory Commission (“TNAAC”) was established by Pierce County as an advisory entity. It has no authority. Its role is “…to receive information and provide formal advice to the County regarding the Tacoma Narrows Airport properties.”
RESIDENT #1
At the September 9, 2025, TNAAC meeting, a resident raised the following points:
- Flight school routes are an intrusion into residents’ lives
- Flights begin early and last for hours (we’ve since learned that flights, including touch and goes, can fly 24/7)
- Residents under or near these flights are unable to enjoy their homes outdoors
- Planes are loud, often flying at low altitudes
- The touch and goes are going over Fox Island, Cromwell, Wollochet, and portions of Gig Harbor
- The patterns are over populated areas negatively impacting the quality of life
- There has been a tremendous increase in the number of touch and goes
His suggested solutions:
- 50% of the flights using Runway 17 turn left (this is Pierce County’s standard turn from Runway 17!)
- 50% turn right (recognizing our fellow residents living on the Narrows bridge side of the airport)
- He estimated fewer Residents would be under the flights turning left which provides greater safety
- The Tacoma shoreline is less populated with the railroad and turning left takes the planes primarily over water (again, providing greater safety)
- Attain a minimum 1500’ altitude (this gentleman learned later that County rules say the pattern altitude is 1300’) prior to flying over shorelines and throttling back to reduce the noise.
- Hale’s Passage and Wollochet Bay and the Channel are wide enough to allow for touch and go patterns to minimize flights over residences.
- Here are visuals of the two patterns this gentleman was discussing:
What was TNAAC’s response to this resident’s eminently reasonable proposals? Objections, disdain, warnings and false statements!
Those in attendance raised the following reasons why these proposals were not possible:
- Planes need expensive special equipment to fly over water (patently false for touch and goes)
- We are going to be even bigger (a warning?)
- If you think our current planes are loud wait till you hear the bigger ones we are bringing in (another warning?)
- What do you expect when you live next to an airport? (this ignores the 44% increase in local traffic—they believe there is no limit to what the airport can do and, legally, they may be right)
- Planes cannot fly over the Narrows Bridge (patently false)
- These folks (meaning those filing complaints) are all entitled–what do they expect: no noise? (ignoring the insult, this resident never said he was requesting no noise)
- The people near the railroad live with train noise (when’s the last time a train flew over these homes only a few hundred feet above them and for hours on end?)
- You guys are becoming whiners (another insult)
- Don’t expect much improvement on any of your requests (we got that message—delivered with arrogance and disdain born from absolute power exercised absolutely)
- Rainier flies C152 trainers which are loud and underpowered making it difficult to elevate when it’s hot outside. Two big guys might not get to 1,000’ (sounds like these planes are unsafe?)
- We have altitude restrictions above 2,000’ without any further information (we’re not talking about flights over 2,000’ anyway so this is irrelevant)
- We cannot fly south down the channel on departure because we have to keep this open for the arriving jets (false: planes fly south down the channel all day long)
- We cannot fly east or south because of JBLM and its controlled airspace (I talked to the JBLM Tower myself, and they have no issues with TIW traffic in TIW’s controlled airspace)
Resident #2
Another Resident stood before the TNAAC at two and possibly three meetings saying he would participate in any group created to discuss noise issues at TIW and to create a culture of noise abatement. Great suggestion! Let’s form a group to discuss what can be done! What was TNAAC’s response to this gentleman’s offer of assistance? Lip service — no such group was ever created!
Several residents
Over the past few years, several Residents have filed noise complaints with the FAA. The FAA’s response: Absolutely no action taken!
The FAA has never imposed a single operating restriction on any airport in the United States. And those attending TNAAC meetings know this. This explains why they keep telling us to file complaints with the FAA.
In my next letter, I will go into detail about the proposals I put in front of TNAAC and the County and the responses I received.
Craig McLaughlin
Fox Island